The almost 1,600 spectators at the Haller OPTIMA Sportpark in Schwäbisch Hall were witness to anything but an ordinary football game this past weekend. The uneaten Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns (7-0) had everything they could handle and more en route to their 65-53 victory over upstart newcomers, the (4-2) Ingolstadt Dukes.
Unicorns head coach Jordan Neuman was impressed by Ingolstadt:
“Ingolstadt has done an incredible job with their offense today. I’ve never seen so many trick plays in one game in my life, and I was also surprised that they all worked so well.”
Ingolstadt’s offensive coordinator Frank Roser after the game.
“It was clear to us beforehand that if we come here and try to play football normally, we would not last long,” said “That’s why I’ve pulled out everything that I’ve gathered in the past few years.”
He meant he opened up his trick play book completely which the Dukes unleashed on their hosts on Saturday several times, helping them score four of their seven touchdowns.
“Honestly,” Roser added, “that it worked so well, I was a bit surprised.”
The upstarts from Ingolstadt entered the game with an air of confidence at time. They put on an offensive display that led to a wildly entertaining football game played at the highest level, which saw the two teams score a record 118-points over three hours. The previous record was set in 2010, when the Dresden Monarchs and Schwäbisch Hall combined for 101 points in Dresden’s 56-45 quarterfinal victory that year.
Unicorns RB Jerome Manyema scored one of his 2 TDs Photo: Manfred Löffler
Time and again the Unicorns defense was put to the test as Ingolstadt kept knocking on the door. Schwäbisch Hall held leads of 24-21, 31-27 and 38-35. Every time the Unicorns offense scored, the Dukes responded.
Ingolstadt set the tone from the opening series, scoring on 60 yard reverse, with quarterback Rick Webster tossing to his favorite receiver Jan Hochschild who then threw it downfield to Lorenz Regler who was wide open in the end zone. And the game was on.
Unicorns quarterback Marco Ehrenfried was outstanding, throwing three touchdown passes to Nathaniel Robitaille, two each to Aurieus Adegbesan and Tyler Rutenbeck while Jerome Manyema scored two on the ground and Tim Stadelmayr kicked a field goal and eight extra points.
For the Dukes, besides Regler, touchdowns were also scored by Richard Samuel, Hochschild, Fürbacher and Dominique Kandolo. Zoran Sisak kicked a field goal and Webster and Samuel added two-point conversions.
With less than a minute remaining and Schwäbisch Hall comfortably in the lead, 65-53, the Dukes were still knocking on the door. It took a last second interception by Daniel McCray to keep them out of the end zone again on this record breaking afternoon.
Source: GFL.info